North west match fishing scene

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Partridge lakes open match

After yesterdays good match on the Cunneries open match where i managed third with 42lb , i decided to give the Partridge open a go although the weather was forecast to be a bit dodgy with rain around dinner time plus a lightish breeze which would be increasing during the day . On arrival at the venue there was a few people knocking about because the Partridge lakes individual was taking place at the same time and a couple of my super cup team where present too so i went over for a chat , when it came round to draw time it was a bit confusing with two queues but it all got sorted out and my home for the day would be peg 15 on Covey one which was an area i hadn’t fished before .

When i arrived at my peg i had an aerator to my right , two empty pegs to my left , your standard far-bank reeds and mud bank plus i was on the cusp of the wind which would allow me to fish across but would be hard work if it got any stronger during the day , i decided on three rigs to use today ;

4ft deep rig when calm 4×10 malman roob with 012 garbo main line which had a 010 garbo hook length and a size twenty gamma pellet hook .

4ft deep rig when windy 4×16 malman roob with 012 garbo main line which had a 010 garbo hook length and a size twenty gamma pellet hook .

My reason for having two rigs at the same depth was the fact it would give me differing falls of the hook bait hopefully getting me more bites in the process .

Channel rig 4×14 malman roob with 012 garbo main line which had a 010 garbo hook length and a size twenty gamma pellet hook .

Bait wise i kept it just as simple as yesterdays match at the Cunneries fishery taking only a pint of red and white maggots , when the all in sounded i went across to eleven meters towards the aerator rop which was acting as a bit of a wind break and when i had plumbed up earlier i found a nice flat spot at a depth of 4ft . I choose to start with my 4×10 rig which would give me a more natural fall of the hook bait , i had a single red maggot on the hook with a few samples in the cad pot and i tapped in a couple at a time before lowering my rig in amongst it after about five minutes my float dipped and i was briefly attached to an f1 which i bumped off not surprisingly this disrupted my peg and after ten minutes i got my next bite which was an ide quickly followed by another .

With the f1s seemingly having backed out of my peg i decided to increase the feed to try to draw them back into my swim , this worked well because i had a run of f1s all over a pound and a couple approaching the 3lb mark . With the wind increasing all the time i changed to my more positive 4×16 rig this allowed me to keep my float still enough to get a bite but for some reason the fish i caught where slightly deep hooked and i could have done with another shot on the rig but my hands were too cold and beginning to cramp up , to make matters worse we now had to endure a snowstorm as well as a strong wind which made fishing across almost impossible . I didn’t have no other option but to go onto my channel swim which i had fed with a dozen maggots every twenty minutes but not surprisingly i couldn’t get a bite and i must be doing something wrong as others do really well using it on here including the guy on peg ten who was getting a fish every ten minutes and had now pulled ahead of me for the section .

I tried putting up a new swim at 4ft but this time on my near slope to my left which could hopefully offer me a bit of protection from the elements for a while anyway as the wind would be hitting my back although this was probably my most comfortable fishing position i just couldn’t get a bite so i risked putting in a swim across directly in front of me and i managed one more f1 and a missed bite but i was just unable hold my pole still long enough to present a bait properly.

The last straw was when i bumped off two fish in a five-minute spell because my hands were that cramped up that i couldn’t control the pole so after three hours i decided to call a premature end to my match which is the first time i had done it in a couple of years but it was just impossible for mt to fish across and that is where the f1s wanted to be , when i pulled my net out i was surprised how heavy it was and must have approached twenty pounds but i have no doubt that it was capable of much more and i heard the other day that peg ten had won the match with 50lb so i had tipped back another section win on here thinking about it i should have left my net in and gone for a warm in the cabin like everyone else but your mind doesn’t work properly when your freezing .

I have a weekend off next week which will give me time to get my kit sorted and dried out , i just hope the weather will have improved a bit my then too .